Green Campus Initiatives Shed New Light on Energy Efficiency

Green Campus interns are forever exploring new ways to save energy on their campuses. The issue of lighting, and the incredible waste generated from those soon-to-be-antiquated incandescent lightbulbs, presented interns at two California State universities numerous opportunities to reduce campus energy use and save their schools some serious dollars.

Last month, Green Campus interns at UC Berkeley began working with interns from the Building Sustainability at Cal Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (BS@C - URAP) to perform an inventory of T12 lighting, exit signs, appliances and cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors in all campus buildings, starting with the College of Natural Resources. This inventory will directly assist UC Berkeley's strategic energy plan by identifying changes that can be implemented on campus to reduce energy usage through lighting retrofits.

Each T-12 identified in this inventory will ultimately be replaced by the more energy-efficient T-8 fluorescent lamps, which will reduce both energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. This semester, Green Campus interns will assist BS@C - URAP with the design of a follow-up T-12 inventory.

Meanwhile, Green Campus interns at UC Santa Cruz having been working with Energy Manager Patrick Testoni to update savings estimates. So far, studies are showing that by retrofitting 137 existing outdoor lighting fixtures with LED fixtures, the university will save approximately 54,500 kWh a year. Furthermore, by retrofitting the same 137 fixtures with bi-level LED fixtures, the university will save approximately 61,000 kWh each year.

Testoni has requested the support of Green Campus in expanding this project to the entire campus so that it encompasses not just outdoor lighting but also building lighting. He also asked that they collect data about potential locations for occupancy sensors. Anticipating a campus-wide lighting audit in 2009, Green Campus interns will be seeking help from other university students, who in turn will receive college credit for assisting them with these tasks.

The next phase of this project begins this month, when interns will work with Testoni to install data-loggers on selected outdoor luminaries to measure traffic – this to generate more accurate savings estimates and cost-effectiveness of utilizing bi-level LED lighting fixtures. Interns will also develop exterior lighting maps of those areas of campus and design an educational display for the LED fixtures. Testoni plans on having the lights installed by spring 2009 in the pilot areas.

Source : http://ase.org/content/article/detail/5350